I just found out that my mother applied to be the presenter of Tiswas back in the 70s. She sent me a copy of the rejection letter today. It went:

Dear Kathryn,

RE: Tiswas Presenter

Many thanks for your letter.

I am afraid that I am having to dictate this letter on the roof as we have had so many applications that the office is now full and unuseable but through a dint of sleepless nights, much coffee and a diet of custard pies we have read your letter right the way through.

I am sorry to have to tell you that you have not been short-listed but please do not be down-hearted, maybe your sanity will be spared.

I do hope that the year and the future is kind to you.

All the best from the Tiswas team.

So she missed out to Chris Tarrent -- who, to be fair, probably did a better job than she could. However, my mum would have been much better than Sarah Green was on The Saturday Swap Shop. (She's sort of like a cross between Ruby Wax and Eddi Reader, my mum.)

"the last panthers" just finished in the states, pretty good but i wanted to like it more than i actually did. liked the grittiness and grim eastern european vibe but found i didn't really care that much about the characters.

when i mentioned this to a friend, he recommended i watch "spiral", which is really good to far.

the wife twisted my arm to watch "the night manager" (so she could drool over pretty boy tom hiddleston), and while it was certainly slick and hinged on some plot lines that stretched the boundaries of credibility, it was suspenseful and entertaining in a "24"-type way. (btw, heard "24" is coming back next year, without kiefer)

"full frontal" with ex-daily show contributor samantha bee is carrying jon stewart's torch more successfully than trevor noah (who i've grown to like), insightful and no-holds barred while still being funny.

the wife twisted my arm to watch "the night manager" (so she could drool over pretty boy tom hiddleston), and while it was certainly slick and hinged on some plot lines that stretched the boundaries of credibility, it was suspenseful and entertaining in a "24"-type way.

Odd to see Hugh Laurie playing a part that isn't either gruff and miserable but basically benign (House) or a lovable, childlike buffoon (most of the other things he's ever played, at least that I've seen). Although I thought he was a reasonably convincing villain, as long as I could stop thinking of him as Bertie Wooster or Prince/Lieutenant George.

I was overjoyed to discover my girlfriend had never seen The Sopranos, so I've now got a reason to watch the whole thing all over again from start to finish! We're the best part of the way through season 1 - she's completely hooked and I've realized I'd forgotten just how fucking great it is. And so clearly a blueprint for so many great anti-hero-based serial dramas that have followed it.

The Sopranos is the best. I mean, it kind of went off the boil towards the end when Tony started living inside a coma-induced dream, etc., but even then it was firing. My favourite episode is the one where they play a Poker game and the owner of the sporting goods store ends up owing loadsa money to his 'friend' Tony. (Although obviously the Pine Barrens episode is the comedy classic.)

Is anyone watching/already watched The Get Down? I'm a few episodes through, and totally unsure whether I think it's a complete mess (having the first episode directed by Baz Luhrmann was a gamble and a half), and whether that's the point anyways. Arresting TV either way, and some of the musical sequences are fucking glorious

Hahaha, that's great. Comedy is definitely one aspect in which the Sopranos beats The Wire. Pauly Walnuts alone:

Haha, this is great!

Did you know this, btw?

Tony Sirico only agreed to sign on for the show if it was guaranteed that his character Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri would not be a "rat", an informant. As Sirico explained in James Toback's documentary The Big Bang (1989), he had served time in prison for robbery. Altogether, Sirico's rap sheet included at least 28 arrests. Reportedly, he also appeared briefly in an uncredited role in The Godfather: Part II (1974).

i started watching stranger things but dont see the point in watching the whole thing. is this what people get excited for now? rehashed 80s spielberg where the appeal is all the films (that prob have not aged that well, but people just wont admit it cos they saw it when they were 9 years old, and cos they saw it when they were 9, it cant be bad) it references rather than anything it does particularly novelly?

i half liked super 8 but it would be good if the jj abrams-ification of american tv and film stopped there. american horror story seemed to do 70s/80s rehashing better, without hedging all its appeal on the stuff it made you think of. then again, maybe if i was 10, id think stranger things was amazing. but its a bit pathetic that all these nostalgia exercises are so hyped.

winona ryder looks good, though i cant totally buy her as a middle aged mother. she looks, and somehow still appears too young.